JUST the Facts!
In the "good ole days"
Way back about 25 or 30 years ago when "ole Jimmie" was a young man, he dabbled in race
cars some.... He never wanted to be a race driver, but he just loved "race cars" and, he had an
opportunity to own a few along the way.
He never was rich enough to buy anything new, so he had to be satisfied to buy other people's
hand me downs. That was OK with him, because along the way he met some very interesting
individials, also known as "race car owners". Now, back in these days these people were truly a different breed
altogether. But, all of these race car "owners" had one thing in commom, a true love for our sport and the
machinery that raced. Remember, without car owners there would still be a lot of "want to be"
race drivers still looking for rides.
Back in these days a race car had what is called "personality", and in some cases they had "a
reputation". Most race car "owners", well... they each had personalities and/or reputations of their
own too!
Most race cars had a "name" it went by, such as, The Deuce, The 'White Lightin'
Express, Banas's Ford Cobra, The Little Jewell, The Gold Deuce, etc. The owners of these cars didn't have an
arsenal of "throw away cars", they had one car and some of these cars would survive years of
racing, many crashes and many rebuilds, coming back to race again and again. At one time ole
Jimmie, who lived for racing back in these days, knew just about every car by name, knew who
drove it, where it raced, how many races it had won, how many crashes it had survived and just
about anything else you wanted to know about it. I think most of the "owners" knew all these things about their competitors cars.
The "owners", who back in the early years recieved very little recognition, unlike today, would
spend their own money (there wasn't many big time money sponsors back then) to support
these cars and their racing habit. Most of these "owners" were of course their own mechanics (that's why they owned
race cars, they loved to tinker and build). Most had "friends" or "relatives" helping in the pits on
race night. Back in these days most of your race night helpers even paid their own way into the
pits, can you believe that! That was because they too had a true love for the cars and the sport
and didn't mind to help support it. Now days, a lot of your pit men are "paid workers". Now
days, most of the mechanics are paid mechanics and now days many of the owners don't even
show up at the track to watch their cars race or watch from the VIP towers now surrounding our speedways. The role of "owners" has really changed in recent years.
Back in these days, they hauled the race cars to the tracks on "open trailers". That way the owner also got
satisfaction from the fact that many people who would never have an opportunity to see a race
car up close could see his creation as he towed to the track. I don't know how many times
people would strike up conversations along the way about the "displayed" race car. Many
questions were answered along the way about race cars and race tracks. One of the main
topics would end up being that a relative or old friend either had a race car of some kind, or
they once knew someone who did. They always wanted to know about the races you had just
attended or were going to. I believe there were some and maybe many race fans who were indroduced to racing this way.
I sometimes wonder....how do modern race car "owners" feel towing
the car to the track, or, I should say, towing a "box" to the track. Of course now days, that's probably just a "worker" taking the "box" to the track. The "owner" will probably "fly" in later. Ever wonder how many
people see that "box" and wonder what's inside. And, those boxes have so many different
"personalities" inside. Not! Now days, some of the owners still name the race cars...names for each
car in the arsenal of cars, just to keep them straight, which one is which. Can you believe that?
And, back in these days, you didn't have to "mortgage" the farm to just attend a race. I thought it
was expensive back then, but compared to today, it wasn't nothin! Also, now days, many,
many "bankers" know a lot about race cars...because they own them..."owners" just make the
payments (most of the time).
Today's racing is closer than ever, simply because they all now use "store bought" motors which
are all basically alike. They are more dependable than ever before. And, some mechanics even
adjust a carburator now and then too! The chassis's are all basically the same, you can't tell
one from another... (or at least I can't). Maybe that's because I don't really care anymore. One
runs just like the other. It use to be that the different car builders would paint their frames a
"company" color, but forget that. And... that got me all mixed up! The cars all look good. But,
they all look the same. Do they make that sheet metal any color besides white and red? What
about the sprint cars? There again I can't tell one from another. It use to be, the roll cages had
a distinct figure to them, but not any more. Years ago, you could look at the welding on a car
and tell who built it, not any more. At least the sprints have some different colors to them....a
lot have a tail section one color, a hood another color, a wing usually silver...and then if they
crashed the night before they may have a little reconstruction "tape" ....this comes in many
attractive colors besides gray. I remember when the biggest decision made was the "color" of
the car and numbers. Nowdays, it don't matter....because it will all change after a weekend of
racing. And... don't get me started on the "green" race cars. Oh well, so much for the rambling! Just take me back to those days......."the good ole days!.